One of the perks of my new job as a library tech is that I get to do storytime twice a week with toddlers. The first one I did I was so nervous that I forgot the words to my first song! But I shrugged it off, and launched into the songs I hadn’t forgotten. Families came back, so I assumed they enjoyed themselves. Thanks in part to Jbrary (my favourite song I learned from them is featured at the end,) I have much improved.
Now that I’ve done quite a few, and have memorized a few dozen songs and rhymes, I’m experimenting with different ideas to keep storytime fresh. Last year, I bought a ukulele and am learning a few songs so, hopefully, soon I’ll be brave enough to play it for the kids. (Though I did play Jingle Bells on it for our Christmas event, and Ten in the Bed that same day as it’s only the “G” chord.)
My latest prop is my storytime parachute. I remember parachutes from when I was a kid, and I loved them. So I decided that it would be a cool thing to have in my storytime, and for two sessions I have added it to the last three rhymes and songs.
My parachute is 10×10 feet and fits perfectly in our storytime barn. (Yes, it’s a barn. And it’s AWESOME.) I found a few blogs where I could pull ideas and gain advice on how to use the chute, so I thought I’d share them here:
READ SING PLAY Adventures in early literacy – this is a fantastic blog with lots of great advice. It’s written by Kendra Lu Jones, who’s a children’s librarian in Tacoma.
STORYTIME KATIE – Katie is a Chicago early literacy librarian and has many great ideas.
So, this is me with my chute just before storytime. To keep things fresh and predictable, I’ll use it on Thursdays at my 10:30 AM storytime.
Also, as promised, my favourite Jbrary song that I sing every storytime because it always gets laughs and now my regulars all know the song. I sing the first version, and then after tell the parents about the … dreaded second version. The parents get a laugh about it, but I have a suspicion that they don’t believe me. Although, last week at babytime when we did Raffi’s Spider on the Floor as a tickle song I changed the words at the end to wishing the spider, not our children, were dead. They laughed at that, and then more so when I told them I softened it up for them.